Convertible ladder.



J. M.- MILLS, JR.

v CONVERTIBLE LADDER.

} APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1915.

Patented Dec. 1&1917'.

3 SHEETS-SHEET .1.

I. M. MILLS, JR.

CONVERTIBLE EADDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1915.

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. M. MILLS, JR.

v CONVERTIBLE LADDER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1915.

1,250,615. Patented Dec. '18, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 JOHNYIVI. MiLLs, JR, or rIsKILwA, IL INors.

oonvnnrinnn L DD R.

I, specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dem-18, 1917.

'npplication filedApril12,1915. serial No. 20,819. V

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN M." MILLS, Jr., a citizen of the United States,residingi'at Tiskilwa, inthe county of Bureauand State of'lllinois, haveinvented certain'new and useful Improvements in Convertible Ladwill beadjustable upon the body of the ladder so that the ladder may bereadilyused upon an inclined' surface' or upon a s'taircase. 7

lhe'invention has as a further object to provide an improved connectionbctweenthe detachable standards and the body of the ladder which, whilepermitting the'standards to be readilydetached, will "be of suchconstruction that underlordinary circumstances, accidental displacementof the standards will be reduce-dto aminimum,

Theinvention has as'a further object to provide a construction whereinthe standards and the body of the ladder willibe adapted to coact toprovide an'eflicient form of staging support, in thenature of a tripodand wherein one leg of the ladde'r will be provided with an extension,so that the 'tri pod may be readily adjusted torest firmly upon unevensurfaces.

And the invention has asa' object to provide an improved spacing bar andmountingtherefor to be used 1n connecy t1on with the tripod or stagingsupport and wherein said bar will be adapted to engage the wallof abuilding for holding the tripod in spaced relation thereto. v s

Other and incidental objects will appear as the description proceeds andin the drawings whereinl have illustrated the preferred embodiment ofthe invention-and wherein similar reference. characters designatecorresponding parts-throughout the several views,

Figure l is a perspective view showing the device arranged in the formof a steplad= der,

am furtherjrails"of'the ladder and F ig.'2 is a similar view showing thelad' der adjustedfor use'u'pon a stalrcase, I F 1g. 31s-a perspectiveview showing the,

to provide a staging support,

ladder arranged to form a tripod adapted A Fig. 4 is a similar viewshowing the ladder folded for shipment or "storage,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the ladder arranged toform'a tri- Fig. 6L is fragmentary perspective view showing the mountingofthe rackbar car ried by the extensionarrangedto coactwi'th one of therailsfof theladder, o

F 1g. 7 1s a side elevation showing the wedge mounted upon the leg oftheladder and adaptedto coact with the rack bar for holding theextension at adjustment, F1g 8 1s a fragmentary sectional. View showingthe attaching; brackets employed for] connecting the supportingstandards to the body of theladdrythis view also illustrating theconstruction of the hook "mem bers carried by the said standards, p

Fig. 9, Ba fragmentaryperspective view showing the mounting of thebracerods carriedby the standards,

"Fig.10 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the hooks carried. bythe stand ards and adapted to coact with the brace rods for yieldablyholding the said rods in operative position, I

Fig. 11 isa perspective view showing the anchoring member carried by onerung of the iladder and adapted to coact with'certain of thebrace rodsemployed, 7 Fig; 12 1s a perspective View showing one of theanchoring-members carried by the adapted to coact with the brace, rods,

'Fig, ;13,*is-a perspective view partly broken away and showing amodification of the invention, and i i l, v Fig. 14 is a fragmentaryperspective view showing the manner in, which the. standards themodification shown in Fig; 13.

are connected to one rail of the ladder in I the preferred embodiment ofthe inve tion, I e'mploy a ladder which includes side rails orlegs 10and 11 "respectively, 'ivhich are connected by a plurality of rung-s12,

one ofwhich extends through the said rails tofp'rovide laterallyprojecting 'lugs1 18.

Mounted upon *the rails 10" and 11 at F the upper terminals thereof" arebrackets 14:.

' ings The brackets 14 are preferably formed from metal and are arrangedto seat flatly against the adjacent upper terminals of the rails 10 and11 as best shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

rails 10 and '11 is a cap board 17, the said cap board'being arrangedtov rest upon the adjacent portions of the brackets 14: extendingacrossthe upper end of the rails and being secured to the rails by aplurality of screws or other suitable fastening devices extendingthrough the cap board and through the said brackets.

Mounted upon one side margin of the cap board 17 at oppositeextremitiesthereof, are angle irons or guides 18, The guides 18 arepreferably formed of metal and may be secured to. the cap. board 17inany suitable manner, being arranged with. their free terminals.projecting-laterally away from the cap, board 17 in substantial;parallel spaced relation to the rails 10 and 11. TheseguidQs are moreparticularly shown in Figs. 3 and 5 of the drawings.

Swingingly mounted upon the underside of the cap board 17 is a wedge 20clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the said wedge being arrangedsubstantially midway the ends of the capI board and beingswinginglyconnected therewith by a suitable pivot pin 21.. The purposeof this wedge will also presently appear.

li founted upon the rail 11 of the ladder adjacent the lower. extremitythereof, longitudinally spaced laterally projecting guide loops 22- and523: respectively. Each of these loops is preferably constructed from asingle strip of metal bent into -substans tially rectangular form andarranged to; ems

brace the rail 11 in the manner,best'shown in l ofthe drawings, the saidloops being. secured to the rail in any suitable manner. Pivotallymounted upon the guide loop. 23and arranged to confront the innerlongitudinal edge of the rail 11, is a wedge 24 shown in detail in Fig.(3 of the draw The guide loops 22 and 23 are adapted to freelv receivean extension 25. The extension 2-5, adjacent one end thereof, is cutaway as. shown in detail in Fig. 6 of the draw-v ings to. receive a rackbar 26'.

The bar is preferably formed from a single piece of metal and issuitably secured to. the extension, being arranged to. project,

posite the said wedge.

I her fat; its free edge, laterally upon one side thereof; 7

As will now be clear, the extension 25 is adjustable longitudinally ofthe rail 11 within the guides 22 and 23 and the bar 26 is adaptedtoengage the guide 23 for holding the said extension at adjustment. Inthis connection, it will be noted that the wedge 24 is arranged to coactwith the rack bar, being adapted to engage between the adjacent portionof the said guide and the inner longitudinal edge of the extension formovingthe; extension laterally within the said guide, i h the e t of; thr k ba gagement w'th the porton or the guide op;

As will be clear, the extensien; 25 may be locked at'longitudinaladjustment through he medi m zthe wedg p n he r l 11 andinay be readilyremoved from? the rail when; desired, 7 i 1' Mounted up. 1; oppositelongitudinal edges the ail l adja ent. the upper extremi y tiereof andin spaced relation to the con,- ti-guous braeket lo carried by the rail,are oppositely disposed attaching brackets. 27 more, particularly shownin Fig. 8 of. the dr ings Eac of h bra kets is, pre erablyferm d rom:sing e piece of metal which is bent adjacent: one end to. provide a spur28 seating within the rail 10, andat its opposite,- e etreinity to,provide a terminal apert red lug 29 extendi g laterallyaway from thecontiguous; edge ofthe rail, It ll. be noted thatthe; inter diateportions of thebrackets are flat, and adapted to seat opposite edges ofthe railv 10: and the said brackets detach-ably connected with the'raili by a bolt 3,0; extending therethrough as shown in detail in; Fig,8. The particular f'unetion of thesebrackets will also presently appear.Arranged to coact with the bodyof the ladder are. standards. 31. Thestandards 31: are eachpreferably cut away atone end and detachablyconnected thereto are hooks The hooks 32; are best shown; in Fig; 8 ofthe drawings and it will bev noted that each of said hooks, is. providedwith a bill extending in angular relation to. the shank 33' The shanks33 are-provided with l terally directed terminals which are passedthrough the adjacent ends of'the ta da ds and are screw threaded toreceive nuts 3 Connecting-the shanks 3'3 of the hooks with thestandards; intermediate the ends of said shanks arehook boltsv 35; Itwill be noted; that the shanks. 33. of -the hooks projectv beyondadjacent endsof the stand.- ards and the hooks are. adapted" to engage,the apertured. cars. 29: of the brackets 27 in the manner also bestshown in Fig. 8 of the drawings]:and are further adapted: to detachablyengage within. the openings formed in the portions 16 of the loops 15the manner shown in Fi g. 11. In this connection, attention'is-directedt0 the fact that when the hooks 32vare engaged with the brackets 27 inthe manner shown inFigPS,

the angularlydirected terminals or bills of the said hooks are adaptedto'extend freely through the apertures of'the ears 29 toprojectlaterallyover theopposite sides of'said ears. The free terminals of the hookswill,

therefore, under ordinary circumstances, act ,to freely connect thex'standards and the brackets 27, while, at the same time, the said Istandards may be freelyswungnpon the brackets. r f r I 7 a Mounted uponthe inner edges of the standards 31 at longitudinally spaced points, are-staples36 and .37 respectively. Arranged tofc oact with the saidstaples'are pairso-f brace rods 38and 39respectiv'ely, the rods 39..beinglongerthanthe rods'138. As shown in detail in Fig; 9 of thedrawings, .each of the staples 36 is cut awaynpon one sideto detachablyreceivetheopen eye of -the. rodcoacting therewith so-that the said rodsmay be readily disconnected from the standards when desired and eachofthe rods is at itsfree end,.p'rovided: with; a: terminal hook40, as moreparticularly shown in .Fig. 10 of the drawings. The r'ods38 t and 39 areeach preferably formed from a bent intern'iediate itszendsto providelater ally disposed eyes 42 which are 'joinedby a connecting portion 43and which merge intosubstantially parallel prongs 44. "The prongs44 aredriven through the said rung of the ladder and are deflected laterallyattheir free ends for securely connecting the said devicewith therung; Theeyes 42 are adapted toafreely receive the hooks 40 of the rods 38 and'39. Connected- 'toth'e rails 10- and 11 adjacent the lower extremitiesthereof, are anchoring. devices 45 sh0Wn in detailin Fig.7l2 of thedrawings. Eachofythe said devices also is preferably-formedfrom a singlelength of Wire bent intermediate its ends'to provide eyes 46 which arejoined by a longitudinally curved connecting portion 47, the said eyesmerging into substantially parallel prongs 48-. As illustrated in Figa 5of the, ,drawinggtheanchoring devices 45 are preferably arranged atopposite ends of the rung off the ladder immediately adjacent I thebottom rung, with the oonnectingportions4Z of the said devices'bearingover' the rung in th'e rnanner shown in Fig; 12,.and.

with thepr0ngs:48 driven throughthe rails 1O and ll and'defiectedlaterally at theireX- tremities, for I securely connecting the saidanchoring devices with the ladder The eyes 46 are also adapted to freelyreceive the hooks 40 of the rods 38 and 39.: i 3 In Figj-l of thedrawingsyI hayeshown the standards31 connected to the body, of

my improveddevice to form as stepladdei'.

As therein illustrated, the hooks 32 are'engaged within the openingsformed in the portion 16.0f theloops l5withthe' standards extending inoutward divergent relation to the rails lO-and 11. .Thebracerods 38 areconnected to the oppositely disposed eyes 36 of "the said standards,.with the hooks 40 thereof connected to the anchoring devices 41. whilethe brace" r'ods'39 are connected with the oppositely disposed staples:37 of the standards with the hooks thereofen'gag ing the anchoringdevices 45*. The standards will thus be rigidly supported in spacedrelation to the rails 10 andgl-l and formaintainingthe hooks ofthepro'ds38 and 39 in engagementwi'thin' the eyes of the anchoringdevices, I provide hooks 49, as more particularlyshown in detail in Fig.10 of the draw ingsflllhe hooks 49 maybeiof any suitable character andare each arrangedupon} one case may be; When" the rods "38 and 39areconnected with the anchoring'devices tl and 45, the said hooks willact"tobow thearods longitudinally; -The r0ds 38'an'd 39. beingresili'ent,,will thus coact with the hooks 49 to normally urge thehooks. of the said'rods seated within ,the eyes of the anchoring de-fvices, 1 Iv Y I is In Fig. 2' of the drawings, 1 have illustrated the.adj ustment'ofI-the standards relative to the body of the ladder sothatthe sideof -thei adjacentstaple 36 or 37- as the y device maybe'nsedupon a staircase or other I inclinedsurfacer Thestandards 31 areeach provided withseries of. longitudinally spaced openingsy50 adaptedto:freely receive the lugs 13. The said lugs arepositionedwithincorresponding openings of the said series ofuopenings with thestandards projecting obliquely above-the cap plate of the ladder toengage the adjacent longitudinal edgev of the cap plate and with theretaining lugs engaging transversely'over the outer faces f ofthe saidstandards. 4 It will thus be ob I servedthatthe said retaining lugsareadapted to maintain the standards-inengagement with'the lugs-13h. Whensoiused, the longer] pair of brace rods 39. are prefer-ablydisconnected. fromz thestandards and the shorter pair 38 thereofzareconnected in: amanner previously described, with the staples 37 with thehooks of the said" rods engaging the anchoring device 41. The lowerends. of

a the standards will thus be rigidly connected I nature of atripod, thesaid support being bemounted. upon the body of the ladder to shown asarranged adjacent a" wall.

The hooks 32 of the said standards are connected to the brackets 27 inthe manner previously described with the standards extending in outwarddivergent relation to the adjacent rail of'the ladder to, in efiect,form in connection therewith, a tripod. The shorter pair of brace rods38 are connected to th staples 37 with the hooks of the said rodsengaging the anchoring device 45 immedi+ ately adjacent the rail 10.Thelonger pair ot'bracerods '39 are connected to a pair of staples 51arranged upon the standards 31 adjacent the staples 37, and areconnected to the anchoring device 45 adjacent the rail 11 of the;ladder. Thestaples 51. are similar in construction to the staples 36previously described and are adapted to detachably're-- ceive the saidrods while hooks 52 similar to the hooks t9 are arranged to coact withthe said staples 51. I

As will be seen, the standards 31 will thus be. rigidly supported inposition. The extension 25 is removed from the guide loops 22 and 23 aspreviously set forth and attention is now directed to the fact that theloops are adapted to detachably receive the said extension with the rackbar 26 coacting with one of the said loops as shown in Fig. 3 of the.drawings. As therein illustrated, the extension is of a length toproject laterally beyond the side of the body of the ladder opposite thestandards 31 and may be adjusted through the medium. of the rack bar 26,the teeth of the rack bar being adapted to engage the adjacent loop. Thepurpose ofthe wedge -now becomes apparent, since the said wedge isadapted to be moved uponits; pivot to engage between the cap plate '17and the adjacent longitudinal edge of the extension for urgingthe rackbar into operative coacting relation with the said loop,

and with the cap plate for locking the extension at adj ustment.

As shown in Fig. 3, the extensionwill thus contact with a wall forsupporting the adjil-Cent upper} endof the ladder away from the wall,while the standards 31'Wlll sup.- port: therails ofithe ladder in spacedrelama e-1'5 tion to'tlie'ground or other supporting surface.Myfimproved ladder will. thus provide an ei'licient form. of stagingsupport which may be readily assembled to be placed in position,or'which may beas easily removed when desired.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, 1. have. illustrated the several elements ofthe device folded. for storage: or shipment. It will be rememberedaspreviously described, that the standards 31 are. swingingly connectedwith the brackets 27. through the medium: of the hooks 32 carried bythe. said stand.- ards, and as illustrated in this figure, the standardsare swung upon the said brackets inopposite directions to seat againstopposite sides of the body of the ladder. Con;- i'iecting, the standardsadjacent the outer ends thereof, is a hook 53 swingingly' con.- nectedwith one ofthe standards and adapted to engage the eye. carried by theother standard. The brace. rods 3.8 are arranged to extend from thestaples 37 and are connected to the anchoring device t5- arrangedadjacent the rail 10, while the brace rods are connected to. the staples51 and are engaged with suitable eyes .54: carried by thestandards, thesaid last mentioned brace .rods being thus arranged to seat, flatlyagainst the inner faces of the standards. The standards and brace rodsbeingso. disposed, the extension is arranged in inactive position uponthe rail 11,. so that the entire device will occupy a minimum space.

Iii-Fig. 5 of the drawings, I have shown the standards arranged upon thebody of the ladder to provide a tripod adapted for general use. Thestandards are connected to: the brackets. 27 in the mannerthereinillustrated. The brace rods 38 and 39' are arranged as above described;with particular reference to the use of the invention shown in Fig. 3 ofthe drawings, and the extension- 25. is moved. into active position uponthe rail 11. l/Vhen so disposed,the said extension will, as will bereadily seen, coact with the standards to form a very eificient type oftripod.

In Figs. 13 and 1 I have disclosed a slight modification of theinvention aswusedin connection with a conventional type of wall ladderindicated-at 55. Mounted. upon one rail of the ladder is an attachingplate 56 which is provided with spaced pairs of al-i-ned openings 57 thesaid rail being recessed in the rear of the said openings. Arranged tocoact with the ladder are standards 58 which, at their upperextremities, are provided with hooks 59 similar in con stru'ctio'n tothe hooks 32 of thepreterred form of the invention. The hooks 59 areadapted to detachably engage within corresponding alined openings 57 ofthe plate 56v for detachably connecting the standards with the: ladder.J

Connected to opposite railsgoffthe ladder and arranged at opposite endsof the bottom rung thereof are the anchoring devices 45 andthe pairsofbrace rods 38 and 39 are arranged to extend between the free endsof froma wall or other surface, I provide a spacing member 60. Since the detailconstruction ofthis spacing member was set forth in Patent No.1,115,559, issued to me Nov. 3, 1911, a further description thereof, inthis connection, is unnecessary. However, it will be observed that thestandards will support the ladder in spaced relation to the ground orother supporting surface to rigidly hold the ladder against the wall.

- In this modified form of the invention, the standards 58 are eachprovided with a pair of longitudinally spaced guide loops 61 and 62similar to the loops 22 and 23 of the preferred form of the invention,the guide loops 62 of each of the standards being provided with a wedge63 adapted to coact with the extension 6% similar to the extension 25.The effective length of the standards 58 may thus be varied as desired.

It will therefore be seen that I provide a very simple and e'tlicientconstruction for the purpose set forth wherein the several elements ofthe device may be assembled to form a step ladder; may be adjusted foruse upon a staircase, or other inclined surface; may be assembled toforma' tripod; may be arranged to provide a staging support, and mayalso be easily folded for storage or shipment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. In a ladder support, an attaching plate I carriedby one rail of the ladder and provided with spaced pairs of alinedopenings, the rail being recessed in the rear of said openings,anchoring devices carried by the ladder, standards, hooks carried by thestandards and adapted to respectively engage in alined pairs of openingsin the attaching plate, and brace rods adapted to engage said anchoringdevices for connect ing the standards with the ladder.

2. In a ladder support, attaching brackets carried by one rail of theladder. standards connected to said brackets to diverge outwardly'fromsaid rail and independent with respect to each other, anchoring devicescarried by the ladder, brace rods connected to said standards andengaging said anchoring devices for supporting the free extremities ofthe standards against swinging movement, alined guide loops carried bythe rails of the ladder, and an extension received in saidguide loops.to project upon one side of the1; -ladder opposite said standards andadapted to cooperate therewith in'support-' ing the ladder. p 3.7 In aladder support, alined' guldeloops carried by therailsiof' the ladder,standards connected to a rail. of the ladder and-d1verging outwardlyaway therefrom, sald'stand v ards being independent with respect to eachother, brace rods connecting-the standards with the ladder forsupporting the free ex tremities of the standards against swingingmovement, a cap-board carried by the. ladder, an extension receivedwithin said guide loops to pro ect laterally upon one slde ofthe ladderopposite said' standards and adapted to cooperate with the standards insupporting the ladder, a rack carried by the extension and engaging oneof said loops, and a wedge carried by the cap-board and engaging betweenthe board and said extension at a point intermediate the loops forholding the extension fixed upon the loops. I

4. In a ladder support, attaching bracketsv carried by a rail of theladder,lstan dards connected to said brackets to diverge outwardly fromthe said rail and independent with respect to, each other, brace rodsconnecting the standards with the ladder and supporting the free ends ofthe standards against swinging movement, and an extension carried by theother rail of the ladder and cooperating with said standards to formatripod. r

5. In a ladder support, oppositely disposed attaching brackets mountedupon opposite longitudinal edges of one rail of the, ladder, a fasteningdevice extending through the rail and said brackets and connecting thebrackets with the rail, the brackets being provided with laterally di-.

rected terminals extending in opposite directlons from the rail,standards lndependent with respect to each other, hooks carried by saidstandards and swingingly connected to the terminals of said brackets,and brace rods connecting the free extremities of the standards with theladder and supporting the standardsagainst swinging movement.

6. In a ladder support, standards arranged to cooperate with the ladderand independent with respect to each 0tl1er,,brace rods connecting thestandards with the ladder for supporting the free extremities of thestand- 7 ards against swinging movement, and an extension carried by theladder with the extension operable to coiiperate with said standards toform a support for the ladder.

7. 'In a device of the character described, a ladder provided with siderails, a cap board arranged at the upper extremities of the said rails,and a bracket interposed between one/of said rails and the said capbeard and formed to provide a loop.

8. In a ladder support, standards connected to a rail of the ladder todiverge outwardly therefrom, the said standards being independent withrespect to each other, anchoring devices carried by the ladder, andbrace rods connected to said standards and engaging said anchoringdevices for sup- 10 porting the free extremities of the standards Copiesof this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing theCommissioner of Patents,

against swinging movement With the said I standards disposed tocoiiperate with the v JOHN M. MILLS, JR. Witnesses:

WM. .RHODEs, N. F. Morm'rs.

Washington, D. G.

